Footwear



E. A. BROWN April 15, 1941.

FOOTWEAR Filed Jan. 16,

avi?? Patented Apr. 15, 1941 A UNITED STATES PATENT GFFICE Foo'rWEAn Elijah A. Brown, Atlanta, Ga. Appeatinn January 16, 1940, seriaiNo. 314,165

4 Claims. y (Cl. 36--10) My invention relates to a new and useful improvement in footwear, more especially to means for retaining a sock in proper position in a shoe.

An object of the invention is to provide a sock that is capable of being secured to the top pory tion of a shoe for the purpose of support. Heretofore it has been customary to use detachable elastic garters or to place in the top ribbed portion of a sock an elastic element to serve as a sock support. result achieved by the present invention.

A further object is to provide a new and useful article of apparel, that is, a sock which can be used as a shoe lining and which can be attached to or removed from the shoe when desired. The socks can be made of wool or any other vdesirable material and can be worn along with full length socks to give additional warmth to the feet. If desired, the liner socks may be made of waterproof material to be worn with full length socks during wet weather in order to protect the feet from moisture absorbed by shoes. In warm climates great foot comfort can be obtained by wearing a pair of liner socks without the additional full length hose.

A still further object of the present invention is to provide liner socks which can be attached, as lining elements, to any form of footwear including shoes, bedroom slippers, and overshoes. In any instance of use, the weight, material, and style of the socks worn is merely a matter of selection on the part of the wearer.

A further object of the present invention is to produce a sock or shoe liner that can be used by athletes on tennis, baseball, football, skating, and other like shoes. It is quite common in the field of sports for players to wear short socks over full length socks for reasons well known. A short sock of this sort tends to slide down into the shoe of the wearer and .for this reason some method for preventing this action has become quite desirable. Socks having elastic tops have not proven very satisfactory since the sock still tends to creep down into the shoe.

In accordance with a preferred mode of carrying out thepresent invention a short sock is provided at or near its top ribbed portion with snap fastener parts adapted to engage corresponding fastener parts secured to the top part of a shoe. pear-ing type of separable fastening device can be used. The placement of complete fastener units on the shoe is a possible alternative considered to be within the scope of the present invention.

A series of clamp fastener units secured at or Neither alternative can e'ect the Broadly, any convenient, neat ap- `near the top of a shoe and adapted to clamp onto a sock is one illustration of this broad alternative. This arrangement eliminates the necessity for attaching any type of fastening element to the sock, thereby enabling one to use an ordinarily constructed sock.

As another modification, a sock can be equipped with multiple fasteners which are capable of holding the sock top to a shoe. With this arrangement a specially built sock can be secured to an ordinarily built shoe.

Fasteners can be attached to the sock or the shoe or both and can be `colored to blend with the color of the sock and shoe so as to be inconspicuous. By proper selection of the type of fasteners to be used and by properly positioning those fasteners the sock ribbed top can be turned down to conceal the fastener from view, thus a neater effect is produced.

In the accompanying drawing are shown, by way of example, several embodiments of the invention, of which Figure l represents a side view of one preferred form of the present invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary sectional View of Figure 1, showing the snap fasteners in open position;

Figure 3 illustrates the same condition as Figure 2 except that the snap fastener is in closed position;

Figure 4 illustrates an upper portion of one form of sock used in the present invention;

Figure 5 represents a modified form of the fastener construction shown in Figure 3 in which complete fastener units vare mounted upon the shoe;

Figure 6 represents a modified fastener structure of a band type; and

Figure 7 is a sectional illustration of the band fastener, shown in Figure 6, tensioned about a shoe and snapped in place.

In one embodiment of the invention, illustrated in Figures l, 2 and 3 of the drawing, resilient headed portions 5 of separable snap fasteners are mounted on the top portion 3 of a shoe 8. One or more of these snap parts can be secured to side or back parts of the shoe top. Near the top edge of the sock I, female snap elements 4 are mounted at spaced intervals corresponding to the spacing between the resilient headed snap parts 5. The sock is secured to the top of the shoe by engaging the snap parts 4 with their corresponding parts 5. The described use of snap fasteners is not intended to limit the invention to this specific type of securing means, but is submitted only in way of illustration.

A modified form of the invention in which the shoe carries complete fastening devices, is shown in Figure 5 of the drawing. The top portion 3 of a shoe has several pinch fastener units I mounted upon it. IThese pinch fasteners are adapted to clamp onto the ribbed top portion 6 of the sock I thereby serving to support the sock. The fasteners 'I can be concealed from view by properly clipping them in position below the uppermost portion of the rib top 6 of the sock` Once the fasteners 'I have been clipped below the uppermost part of the sock, that portion of the sock rib top 6 which is above the points of attachment of the fasteners can be folded down thereby covering the fasteners and at the same time giving a neat folded appearance to the sock top.

Figures 6 and l illustrate another modification of the invention in which the sock I is held to the shoe 8 by means of a band 9, which band is preferably made 0f elastic material. The band 9 at one end is sewn to the sock rib top E, such as at point I Il, `and is provided with a fastener segment I2 at the other end for engaging a cooperating fastener segment II mounted upon the opposite side of the rib top 6 of the sock. To secure the sock to the shoe, the band 9 is passed under the arch I3 of the shoe 8 and then the snap elements II and I2 are engaged.

It is possible to attach the band 9 to the sock in any convenient manner. By way of illustration, each of the ends of said band can be sewn to respective sides of the sock top 6, thereby eliminating the use of a separable fastener. In such instance the band should be built of elastic material to enable it to be stretched over the toe or heel of the shoe and be brought back to proper position under the shoe arch. Instead of sewing both ends of the band 9 to the sock, it may be more desirable to snap, hook, or clip each of said band ends to respective sides of the sock top.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In an article of footwear comprising a sock held in position in a shoe by positive fastening means, a continuous ring portion of said sock being folded outwardly and downwardly over the top of said shoe, fastening means being attached to said sock ring portion and to said shoe to connect positively the sock in folded-down position to said shoe.

2. In an article of footwear comprising a sock held in position in a shoe by positive fastening means, a continuous ring portion of said sock being folded outwardly and downwardly over the top of said shoe, separable fastening means being attached to said sock ring portion and to said shoe. to connect positively the sock in foldeddown position t0 said shoe.

3. In an article of footwear comprising a sock held in position in a shoe by positive fastening means, a continuous ring portion of said sock being folded outwardly and downwardly over the top of said shoe, separable fastener elements being mounted upon said continuous ring portion of the sock and upon the shoe top and being correspondingly engaged to connect positively said sock in folded down position to said shoe.

4. In an article of footwear comprising a sock held in position in a shoe by positive fastening means, a continuous ring-welt portion of said sock being folded outwardly and downwardly over the top of said shoe, separable fastener elements being mounted upon the sock welt and upon the shoe top and being correspondingly engaged to connect positively said sock in folded-down position to said shoe.

ELIJAH A. BROWN. 

